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Heh, I don't get where you guys are getting all of this God is perfectly good and benevolent. I'm Christian...esque, and I can't recall the Bible ever actually saying God was good, in fact the OT makes him seem pretty dark. He created us to serve and entertain him, it was his Son, the Christ who negotiated with him the sending people to heaven and such. I'm not SURE it ever says Christ is good, well, I suppose Born Without Sin counts, and it heavily implies Good.

I look at it this way. God is of an entirely Lawful bent, he rewards those who follow his tennents and punishes those who fail to serve him. Jesus is an entirely Good bent, he went out of his way, even going so far as to lower himself to the position of mortality to give the human race an out, and the Spirit is entirely impersonal. I'm not sure how much I believe in the supernatural, and the mystical effects of other religions, but I tend to belive that the Holy Spirit is entirely neutral and can be tapped into by just about anyone....

To all who believe in God; Does the same God rule over parallel universes or is there a God for each of them? For that matter, are you likely to meet your double from a parallel Universe in heaven and hell or do each have their own heaven and hells? Do you suppose Jesus was reborn on alien planets as an incarnation of God in the form of whatever dominant sentient beings lived on them?

Blackness. Utter blackness. Then, a light. Rushing, rushing closer...it stops, but a few mere feet away from the essence that is your soul. Suddenly, neon green letters in a sharp, digital font begin to play across the light in the manner of a massive, blinding television. These letters read;

Wow, this is a negative thread! Perhaps I'll read it ALL sometime. One thing I wanted to quickly comment on is how some christians are viewed as intolerant (well, I'm sure some are). There's a common saying, "Hate the sin but love the sinner." Most christians I know follow this. From what I can tell about people's comments, they just don't want christians to recognize sin at all. As an example, if my son robbed a bank, I'd recognize his action as a sin, yet I would still love him. It's the same with any other sin, if one is following Jesus' teachings.

A second comment. I'm not a catholic, and I'm quite aware of all the troubles the catholic church has been having (and has had in the past), but I do know that many individuals within the catholic church have, and have had, ministries that are really great. They still run some of the best hospitals in the country. Besides that, throughout the past 2000 years, Christians have founded all kinds of good things that everyone takes for granted today (again, hospitals; universities, etc.).

As far as christians thinking other religions are "cults," it depends on that religion. Judaism and Christianity claim that the bible was written through the inspiration of the one creator God. If you hold to Judaism or Christianity, and you find that another religion does not acknowledge the creator God, then you're obviously going to think that that relgion is false (although a lot of older religions have truths within them that Christians can accept). Christianity holds that Islam is false since it does not acknowledge Jesus as God's son. Mormonism does not believe in Jesus that way either.

Actually, Judaism doesn't technically believe in Jesus either, but I suppose that's a bit beside the point. Still, seeing as how the Christian religion was basically a copy of Judaism with minor editions, I suppose it makes sense Christians can't rag on it, too.

There's also a saying that a man is defined and/or judged by his actions. I suppose if my sister was a sadistic drug dealer, I'd still love her and pray for her forgiveness because anybody can change their ways. But if someone I love turned to evil and wound up burning in hell, loving the sinner would have seemed awfully in vain.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Time Enough For Love, by Robert Heinlein

There's also a saying that a man is defined and/or judged by his actions. I suppose if my sister was a sadistic drug dealer, I'd still love her and pray for her forgiveness because anybody can change their ways. But if someone I love turned to evil and wound up burning in hell, loving the sinner would have seemed awfully in vain.

But you're putting yourself above God. I don't like the idea of hell either. Why not try to understand God instead of judging yourself how He's going to handle things? A lot of people are judgemental here, being pretty hateful, yet they claim they are in the right (!) (how many here have read the bible through at least three times, with commenteries to help you understand the historical & cultural contexts?). The one thing I understand about heaven and hell is that people who don't want to be in God's presence won't be there He is, Heaven. It all comes down to a person's choice, not God's. I don't know for sure who is going to be in Heaven - God knows each person's heart and motives for doing things - I don't and neither does any other human being.

Hm? Are you saying that Mormonism does not hold that Jesus is the son of God? Because they do.

They may say that, but they have other beliefs about him that contradict the New Testament. They believe that Jesus: was created (so not part of the trinity) and saved; is Lucifer's brother; was conceived through a physical sex act; and is only one of many gods. This is not the Jesus of the bible. There are various books written by people who entered the Mormon church thinking is was a biblical church, but the further up they got into the heirarchy, the more they found out about the church's theology, and they left.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Time Enough For Love, by Robert Heinlein

I clicked it, and I liked it. But anyways an actual question for you other Christian types. The Bible is our main religious text, do any of you ever worry that the Apostle Paul corrupted it? I mean he was Saul of Tarsus, tasked with hunting down the Christians and destroying their cult. THen suddenly and miracuously, he coverts and adds radical stuff to the Word. Now if I was gonna destroy a religion, corrupting it's texts and devouring it from the inside might not be a bad start. Then again he WAS martyred so... I dunno.